Prep Sports Notebook: Hermantown wins 2025 baseball opener

Hermantown blanked Duluth Denfeld 4-0 in a Lake Superior Conference baseball opener Wednesday afternoon at newly renovated Fichtner Field.

Senior right-hander River Freeman threw a complete game one-hitter and fanned nine for the Hawks (1-0). Jacob Evason contributed three RBIs with a double and triple for the winners, and sophomore catcher Micklain Martalock went 2-for-2 with an RBI.

“River had a no-hitter going into the seventh when he gave up his only hit with one out in the top of the inning,” said Hermantown coach Troy Warren. “Perhaps most impressively, he threw only 80 pitches and didn’t walk anyone. He’s a huge competitor who would pitch every day if he could. I’d rank him with Proctor’s Nick Terharr (a University of Iowa commit) and Duluth Marshall’s Owen Marsolek as the top pitchers in the area.”

Hermantown will host Proctor (3-0) on Tuesday and Hibbing (0-0) Wednesday, before visiting Cloquet (1-2) on Thursday and returning home to face Rock Ridge (2-2) Friday. All are LSC games and begin at 4:30 p.m.

The Hawks are pumped to show off their new artificial turf field and have a home field advantage this spring, Warren said.

“I’ve been coaching for more than 10 years and I can’t recall us playing more than five home games in any season before being fortunate to get our own synthetic turf field,” said Warren. “Last year we were on the road all season and this spring we expect to play 10 home games, while being able to practice at the field as we have to prepare for the opener. Along with the bullpens and hitting cages we’ve got a facility to have our varsity and junior varsity teams work out at the same time, which gives us a new competitive advantage. We also had a nice home crowd for the opener, which the kids really appreciated.”

Warren has high expectations for his young team.

“Our younger players gained a lot of experience last spring, with only one senior starter, and this year’s team features five senior, two juniors and a pair of sophomore starters,” he said. “Every team in our conference, from top to bottom including favorites Cloquet, Duluth Marshall and Grand Rapids have young, talented teams. So we’re expecting a lot of parity in the league, with a lot of close games. River is our horse.”

2025 Hawks Schedule / Results

Duluth Denfeld, W 4-0

Tuesday – host Proctor, 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday – host Hibbing, 4:30 p.m.

Thursday – at Cloquet, 4:30 p.m.

Friday, April 25 – host Rock Ridge, 4:30 p.m.

Monday, April 28 – at Duluth East, 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday, April 29 – host Grand Rapids, 4:30 p.m.

Friday, May 2 – at Hibbing, 4:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 3 – at Apple Valley, 4 p.m.

Tuesday, May 6 – at Esko, 4:30 p.m.

Monday, May 12 – at Superior, 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, May 14 – at North Branch, 4:30 p.m.

Thursday, May 15 – host Duluth Marshall, 4:30 p.m.

Friday, May 16 – at Chisago Lakes, 4:30 p.m.

Monday, May 19 – at Proctor, 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 20 – at Grand Rapids, 4:30 p.m.

Thursday, May 22 – host Bemidji (2), 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

May 28, 29, 31, June 3, 4 – Class 3A, Section 7 tournament, TBA